Since there are no eyewitnesses and no evidence, God is asked to be the judge to determine which party is guilty and to punish that person by doing to him or her the punishment which that person had called down upon himself or herself. Then hear thou from heaven: Then renders the common Hebrew conjunction. Here it introduces the consequence of the condition in the previous verse, so then is an appropriate rendering. After this conjunction the Hebrew text has the independent pronoun for “you” (also in verses 25, 27, 30, and 33), which gives a slight emphasis that is overlooked in most translations. Chouraqui attempts to express this emphasis by saying “and you, you listen from heaven.”
As noted earlier, hear thou from heaven is repeated eight times in this chapter. Because it is a common theme in the prayer of Solomon, it should be translated in the same way each time it occurs, if it is natural to do so in the receptor language. See the comments on verse 21.
And act, and judge thy servants: The meaning of this expression is made clear by what follows. In this case judging includes both the condemnation of the guilty and the vindication of the innocent. Act renders the Hebrew verb that is often translated “do.” This verb refers to the same action as the verb judge, and for this reason Good News Translation leaves the verb act untranslated. Others may translate “and take action by judging your servants” or “and do justice between your servants” (New Jerusalem Bible). Thy servants refers to the people involved in the conflict. This may be confusing in some languages if it is translated literally since the idea is simply that they are subject to God as part of the people of Israel. For the whole clause here Contemporary English Version says simply “and decide who is right.”
Requiting the guilty by bringing his conduct upon his own head: Requiting the guilty means to punish the guilty person. Bringing his conduct upon his own head is literally “giving his way on his head.” This expression is common in the Old Testament as a way of saying that a person will be punished for the deeds that he does (see, for example, 1 Sam 25.39; 1 Kgs 2.32; 8.32; Est 9.25; Psa 7.16; Ezek 33.4). Other versions have translated the clauses here as follows: “Repay the guilty person with the proper punishment” (God’s Word), “cause to come on the guilty person the punishment that his conduct deserves” (La Bible du Semeur), and simply “Punish the guilty party” (New Living Translation).
And vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness: Vindicating the righteous is literally “by declaring righteous the righteous.” Vindicating is the opposite of condemning. It is the act of declaring an innocent person not guilty of wrongdoing. The technical legal term for this action is to “acquit” (Good News Translation, New Living Translation). The Hebrew words rendered righteous and righteousness should not be understood in the theological sense that these words have in the New Testament. The righteous is better translated in English as “the innocent” (Good News Translation, New International Version, Revised English Bible, Moffatt), and righteousness is better rendered “innocence” (New International Version, Revised English Bible, Moffatt). Two models for this last part of the verse are “and let the innocent one go free” (Contemporary English Version) and “Prove that the person who has done right is innocent” (International Children’s Bible).
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .